Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn’t Tolerate Antiwar Voices...

In 2003, the legendary television host Phil Donahue was fired from his prime-time MSNBC talk show during the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The problem was not Donahue’s ratings, but rather his views: An internal MSNBC memo warned Donahue was a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war," providing "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity." Donahue joins us to look back on his firing 10 years later. "They were terrified of the antiwar voice," Donahue says.

Phil Donahue: "We Have an Emergency in the Media and We Have to Fix It"

Phil Donahue–one of the best-known talk show hosts in the history of television in the United States–joins us in our firehouse studio to discuss the state of the media in this country. Donahue’s show was on the air for more than 29 years. In 2003, he was fired by MSNBC because he was allowing antiwar voices on the air.

Before Jerry Springer created a show that looked more like a wrestling match than a talk show; before Oprah was a household name and before the explosion of cable news networks and the 24 hour talk show cycle, there was a daily program that millions tuned into every week for a national discussion on a wide range of social, political and personal issues. The show was simply called "Donahue" and was hosted by a bespectacled man with silver hair who would run around the studio handing the microphone to members of the audience to give them their say on the issues of the day. For many people watching or listening right now, it is probably unnecessary to say that that man was Phil Donahue. Throughout the 1980s, he was probably one of the most trusted personalities in this country.

Donahue first took to the airwaves in 1965. He hosted his radio program "Conversation Piece" in Dayton, Ohio. Two years later on November 6, The Donahue Show premiered on television with atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair as its first guest. During the 1992 Presidential campaign, Donahue was credited with expanding the role of daytime television by featuring an unprecedented debate between then-candidates Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown. "The Donahue Show" was on the air for 29 years. In that time, Phil Donahue hosted more than 6,000 shows.

After years of being away from hosting that daily, national discussion, Donahue returned to TV in 2002 as the host of a nightly debate-style program on MSNBC. For many people, the show was a much-needed breath of fresh air on the cable networks, increasingly dominated by right-wing pundits and media personalities. Antiwar voices long kept off these cable news channels were suddenly given a seat in the forbidden studios to take part in a national debate about the so-called war on terror.
Here’s an example–this was in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq.

Phil Donahue on MSNBC interviewing Harry Belafonte.

Donahue was on in the same time slot as Fox’s Bill O"Reilly. But the show didn’t last long. In fact, it didn’t even last a year, even though it was MSNBC"s top-rated program. When Donahue was fired, the network moved to hire a string of right-wing hosts.
Phil Donahue joins us today in our studio.

Phil Donahue, one of the best-known talk show hosts in the history of television in the United States. His show was on the air for more than 29 years. In 2003, he was fired by MSNBC because he was allowing antiwar voices on the air.

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